Saturday, June 28, 2014

Short Film Update or I Think I Wrote That or A Writer’s Lament

It’s been a shitty week at work. Scrap that, it’s been a
shitty month. I’m not usually prone to work related stress but I’ve been
feeling it of late – overwhelmed by the sheer volume of activity and the kind
of long hours I promised myself I’d never return to when I went back to the
corporate world. A state of affairs that I will be redressing as of next week I
can assure you, good reader.

It’s fair to say then that I wasn’t my usual witty self when
I wandered over to the latest PAC Script Lab reading straight from work. Not
helped by the fact that, for some reason (perhaps because it was much warmer in
the State Library than the morgue-like temperature my office building is set
at?), I suddenly couldn’t hear very well as if my ears were stuffed with cotton
wool. I was tired and cranky, a state not immediately solved by free wine. A
combination of my general absence from the ‘film scene’ and an unruly winter
beard also meant that I was largely incognito. I suspect my general demeanour
may have been a contributing factor, another issue to address.

I did, however, have a conversation with the director of
Filmbites who is easily one of the nicest people in the local film business.
Amongst the general chitchat she gave me an update on the short film Darkness
that I wrote in the second half of 2011 after attending two sessions with
Filmbites’ advanced acting students in the middle of that year.

Yes, THREE YEARS AGO.

Apparently the footage is looking great, the special effects
are now being done, and the producer and director are really happy with some
local act that will be doing the music.

My reaction was interesting. I nodded politely and smiled
but I had no personal or emotional response as such at all.

Three years ago I created the story from basically two
disparate improvisations by those young actors. Initially I wrote, I think, three
drafts. Then a director needed to be attached. I had a meeting with the person
who would become the director one evening in a café to do the pitch. He came on
board but requested changes to the script. This was fine as the basic idea was
unaltered – it was mainly tweaking the ending which changed the tone somewhat
but that wasn’t a deal breaker. As this was part of an inaugural programme for
the film school the goal was to have as strong a script as possible. The director
subsequently brought on board an up and coming producer and things were all
set. I attended auditions, an entire afternoon of rehearsals in about April
2012, and was on location a few times when the film was finally in production.
In other words I was an integral part of the process… up to that point.

Since then I haven’t seen one second of footage or had any
input into or even been advised of any creative decisions. I briefly met the
editor earlier this year who is an expatriate Western Australian now working in
LA (with many impressive assistant editor credits on some big Hollywood films)
and she was lovely but talk of possibly seeing an edit ended up being just that,
talk.

I understand that as everyone is volunteering their time this
was going to be a long process but from being one of the early driving forces
I’m not even a bit player anymore. I haven’t had any conversations with the
director or producer for ages so I really have no idea what the final film is
going to be like. I’ve also lost touch with the actors who’ve gone on to varied
things, one now attempting to forge a career in LA. This may be a screenwriter’s
fate in the greater scheme of things though a little disappointing given the nature
of the programme that was the impetus in the first place. I probably also cast
an envious eye at tightknit creative teams like Seventh Continent Productions
and others doing well with their short films.

So when I was hearing the update Thursday night I felt very remote
from it all. Unfortunate but I guess I did my job a long time ago and once that’s
complete my involvement to all intents and purposes is over.